today I decided to stop my weekly newsletter at Substack. I really liked doing it and the feedback was reassuring, but I have to admit that when I set it up I did not do enough research about the platform and while my newsletter was already running I learnt about its lack of moderation and the according problematic content, and the recent statement by Chris Best, Substack’s Co-founder & CEO, really is the biggest load of nonsense I’ve read in a long time. I do not want to support or gain support on a platform that succumbs to recent right-wing political events this way. And yes, I am fully aware that I still have accounts on Instagram and Facebook, and Meta is no less spineless in that aspect , and I am not happy with that either. I will keep these though, for now at least, to follow others I am friends with, admire or respect. Because sadly there are still no real working alternatives. We will see how Bluesky will develop, if that works I might ditch other accounts as well. If not, maybe I just ditch all of it. I got to know many interesting people through social media, revived old acquaintances, met new ones, and I learnt a lot. But for a longer time now, it is more of a drag than anything else, and I am quite tired of it. I think I might finally be ready to just ignore the algorithms, instead of constantly struggling to push through. If I am are forced to deal with so much content I never asked for, on a daily basis, and the content I actually subscribed to is so hard to find, it is wasting too much time for nothing.
But back to content that actually reaches you. I’ve been writing, mainly about music, for many years, and I was frustrated by how much quality content was lost over time, or in the process of vanishing, without really being replaced. It was some kind of relief for me that said content was actually still there, on platforms such as Substack. So I delved into it and eventually decided to contribute to it myself. It soon became apparent that the convenience of print or web magazines was still a better working model, for me at least, because the more accounts you subscribed to, the more you had to process, and the flood of newsletters in my inbox became a bit overwhelming. Of course it can also get quite costly as if you subscribe to several paid subscriptions. But still, it seemed to be a worthy alternative. Well, until you realize that you become associated with a platform that shares opinions that are in stark contrast to your own. So thank you for your attention on Substack, I hope you can understand my decision. My paid subscribers will of course receive a full refund.
If you are still interested in following what I do, you can always find it here. Of course a personal website, a public archive of your activities over the years, is absolutely anachronistic these days. A post I publish here more or less vanishes into the void if I do not post about it elsewhere. But here I have my own void, and I promise to constantly update it and include writings and thoughts and background I would have published on my newsletter, with the difference, admittedly vital, that you have to look by yourself. But I rather be inconvenient than carry on with doing something I know I should not be doing.
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